A data warehouse is a database that accumulates data from the day-to-day operational systems and serves the needs of decision support. This chapter explains data warehouse models and how they differ from operational data models.

This chapter uses the IE notation alone for modeling data warehouses and foregoes the UML. Data warehouses have a simple structure and there is no benefit to using the UML. A database notation is sufficient for both modeling and database design.

13.1 What Is a Data Warehouse?

A data warehouse is a database that is dedicated to data analysis and reporting. It combines data from multiple operational applications (see Chapter 11) and provides one location for decision-support data. A data warehouse ...